Justin Rutledge - Something Easy (2023) [Hi-Res]

Justin Rutledge could easily rest on his reputation - Eleven albums in, he's accumulated a daunting body of work upon which one could easily coast - Instead, on "Something Easy", Justin Rutledge did the opposite - He made things exceedingly difficult for himself and decided to write, record and produce the album by himself at home, With one, then later two, bouncing baby boys underfoot, to boot.

The results speak for themselves. "Something Easy" is a serene, stately thing of beauty, a gently paced record that really rewards the patient listener with meticulous detail and unexpected instrumental happenings. It's anything but Rutledge settling into a rut. It will surprise you.

That Rutledge can still catch us off guard should not come as a surprise. The man is very good at what he does. Accolades have piled up since he released his first album, "No Never Alone", via Six Shooter Records and Slowdive/Mojave 3 main man Neil Halstead's Shady Lane Records in 2004. He's won a Juno Award for Roots Album of the Year in 2014 for the album "Valleyheart" - which also landed him a Canadian Folk Music Award - and has since been nominated for three more Junos. He's been longlisted twice for the critic-voted Polaris Music Prize.

"All of these songs are about youth, and I hadn't realized that," he says. "And it's interesting because I feel that, as a new dad, there's this transition that's happening where suddenly I'm realizing I'm in my 40s. And what's happening is that our wild-and-free years are suddenly over there, and our 'middle-aged' years are now right here. I feel like I'm at this apex where I'm thinking a lot about my youth, But I'm not lamenting anything. I'm not old, I'm just shocked at how suddenly this new phase of life has begun."